NATIONAL VIEW: The John Warner effect

One wonders how long it will take the White House to lob the "cut-and-run" grenade now that Virginia Republican Sen. John Warner has urged the beginnings of a military withdrawal from Iraq this fall.

On Thursday, the courtly lawmaker, who recently returned from his 10th trip to Iraq, held a news conference where he dropped this unsparing bomb: "I really firmly believe the Iraqi government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Maliki, have let our troops down," he said.

Because of that government's shortcomings, and to send a message that America's commitment is not "open-ended," as President Bush perennially emphasizes, Warner suggested it's put-up-or-shut-up time.

"That simple announcement of a single redeployment ... will get everybody's attention," Warner intoned. "I say to the president respectfully, 'Pick whatever number you wish.' ... Say, 5,000 could begin to redeploy and be home ... no later than Christmas of this year. That's the first step."

Warner's position isn't a complete about-face; he sent signals last fall that he was displeased with the direction of Iraq, saying it was "drifting sideways" and that U.S. troops were being lured into a civil war.

But what makes Warner's position noteworthy is that he's no squish.

Indeed, the senator from central casting was a vehement supporter of the war in 2003. I recall an editorial board interview with him that year at The Virginian-Pilot newspaper where I worked, and Warner insisting that America had to go after Saddam Hussein because the dictator had the ability to send over "this much" — and here Warner held up his water bottle — nerve gas and wipe out an entire American city.

How quaint that notion seems now.

The fun of this will be seeing the White House's attempts to discredit the 80-year-old Warner. That's going to be tough sledding.

Warner is also no wuss. The former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee is one of America's most-respected voices on national security. He served as an enlisted Navy man in World War II, a Marine officer in Korea and as secretary of the Navy as America was trying to figure out how to get out of Vietnam.

One wonders if White House fixers will drag out his marriage to Elizabeth Taylor as an example of Warner's pro-Hollywood, anti-heartland values.

It was interesting this week to contrast Warner's history with that of Bush, who, at a VFW speech in Kansas City took the bizarre tactic of comparing Iraq to Vietnam, in the process accidentally reminding everyone that he wasn't there.

The White House can deny — probably truthfully — that it was moved by Warner's call. A spokesman said there would be no changes in military strategy until the presentation of a progress report on Iraq in mid-September.

But what it can't deny — and what has probably unleashed a flurry of West Wing teeth-gnashing — is the political significance of Warner's statement. By calling for a troop withdrawal, Warner gives cover to every GOP loyalist who sees his own political fortunes tanking along with the Bush administration's. Many of those loyalists are up for re-election next year.

Unlike many of his fellow Republicans, who — out of genuine belief, intimidation from the White House or willful blindness — have refused to alter their war stance despite a deluge of facts to the contrary, Warner has taken the harder, lonelier route.

His willingness to change his mind on Iraq shows that his loyalties lie where they should — with America's troops. Not with a political party or an eye toward scoring pork-barrel earmarks or getting Bush to show up for a grip-and-grin during his next campaign.

Cynics say Warner, who's cultivated a reputation as a centrist, is taking this position because he likely won't run again. But Virginia's longest-serving GOP senator has said he's "very interested" in seeking another term.

Virginians — indeed, Americans — better hope he does. Because this country needs fewer politicians and more statesmen willing to meet political realities head-on. And statesmen are pretty darned hard to smear.